A gang of goons, acting on the authority of King Zedekiah of Judah, threw the prophet Jeremiah into a pit. Two of them were Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Gedaliah son of Pashur. Both men have been historically corroborated through the archaeological discovery of clay seal impressions dated to the sixth century B.C. bearing their names. And that’s me, below, in the actual pit into which Jeremiah was tossed. Debbie my wife took his short video of me in Jerusalem earlier this year. But how did Jeremiah survive? “Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs of the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon…” (Jeremiah 38:7) So the king’s own men put Jeremiah in there, but a low-ranking Ethiopian decided to take matters into his own hands. Ebed-melech approached the king—a daunting task that involved great personal risk—and remarkably got permission to get Jeremiah out. It took 30 men to pull Jeremiah out since he was trapped in the caked mud at the bottom of the pit. They even used old rags so Jeremiah could pad the ropes under his arms, so they could yank him out without the ropes cutting into his skin. How exhilarating it is to be on the scene and see the great drama of biblical events supported and illuminated by biblical archaeology!